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Our Supporter Charter

Our vision is that every pet will enjoy a healthy life in a happy home. We find happy homes for abandoned or unwanted pets and we keep pets healthy by promoting welfare and providing treatment.

Our supporters are vital to our success. Your generosity means that we can achieve positive outcomes for many more pets that need our help. That’s why we are also committed to treating you with the highest respect and we will do all we can to earn and retain your trust. We value each individual who supports us and we never take that support for granted.

Our five core principles are:

1. We are committed to following the highest fundraising standards in any activity we undertake:

We are members of the Institute of Fundraising (IOF) and are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and fully comply with their codes of practice

We also do our very best to make sure that the ways we fundraise meet our own organisational values, which include being compassionate, responsible and acting with integrity in everything we do

We don’t undertake any form of fundraising which we believe a person might find it uncomfortable to experience, such as asking people to sign up to support us in the street, and making unsolicited telephone calls to the general public who are unaware of Blue Cross

We sometimes undertake cash collections outside our shops or at shows and events; we also knock on doors or approach members of the public at private sites, such as shopping centres, to talk to people about our work and to ask them to support us with a regular gift. However, we always get permission from the local authority, ensure all regulations are upheld and closely monitor activity to ensure your experience of this type of fundraising is a positive one. Find out about face-to-face fundraising

We call our supporters who have given us permission to do so from time-to-time to thank them and provide them with an update on our work and provide an easy means to give again. We aim for this to be an enjoyable and positive experience whether or not you decide to help us further at this time.

We are sensitive to fundraising from vulnerable individuals and our staff, volunteers and partners adhere to the Institute of Fundraising's policy on vulnerable people.

We take care to make sure all fundraisers are fully trained and we closely monitor activities, especially when we work with external partners for fundraising because our Blue Cross team just isn’t big enough

2. We welcome all feedback and listen to it, taking action whenever and wherever appropriate:

We love to hear your views about what we’re doing and where and when we could improve

When we get things wrong, we’ll be upfront about them, apologise and do our best to put things right

We have a separate complaints procedure for responding to any complaints. We treat all complaints seriously, investigate them fully and respond to you as promptly as possible.

3. We recognise and respect each supporter, maintaining confidentiality at all times regarding your personal details and data.

We respect the rights and privacy of all supporters and service users who come to us for help and support

We ensure your personal details and donations are kept secure and comply fully with all relevant regulations including the Data Protection Act 1998, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 and the Telephone Preference Service

We will never sell or share your data with external third parties for their own marketing purposes

We aim to provide great supporter care and strive to exceed expectations

4. We are transparent about how we use your donation(s).

Your donation will be promptly acknowledged and thanked when you ask us to. Although we don’t routinely do this as most supporters prefer us to save on postage costs, we value every gift, whatever its amount, and are always grateful for your kind support

We will use your donation carefully and responsibly, putting it to work as quickly as we can

If you request us to allocate your gift to a specific project, location or type of work, we will ensure this happens wherever possible. If this is not possible, we will advise you of this and proceed according to what you decide

We will maximise the value of your donation through Gift Aid whenever we can, and where you confirm your eligibility and consent for us to do this

We publish clear financial information in our annual report and annual review which are publicly available, including on our website

5. We seek to keep you updated about our news and the positive impact on pet welfare we are making, communicating with you in ways you prefer.

We will communicate with you, unless you tell us otherwise , to keep you updated on how your support is helping pet welfare and share stories that demonstrate how you’re helping transform the lives of pets in need

We will only communicate with you in the ways you want us to when you tell us your preferred contact method. If you contact us about a change in your preferences, or how frequently you want to hear from us, we will make those changes as quickly as possible

We will be honest about the challenges we face and show you how you can further support us and pets in need, unless you ask us not to

We will not put you under pressure to make a donation and if you do not want to give again or stop being a supporter, we will respect your wishes

If you would like to see our privacy notice with more details about how we use your data please click here.